How New Media Is Changing Youth Political Activism

Kony 2012 was an example of youth political engagement that supporters and critics both drew attention to through videos and memes online. (CC BY-SA 2.0)

First, young people have long been criticized for not being civically engaged enough. People argue that millennials vote less or prefer to watch satirical news programs like “The Daily Show” over actual news.

But a new book called argues that youth political engagement hasn’t necessarily declined, it has just changed. Young people with a political cause have used Facebook, Twitter, viral videos, memes, and pop culture to talk about issues that matter to them — from the Invisible Children campaign to the Harry Potter Alliance which fights for human rights in the name of fantasy written by J.K. Rowling.